Lumber Jack-Rabbit
Lumber Jack-Rabbit is a 1953 Looney Tunes animated short film directed by Chuck Jones and featuring Bugs Bunny. With a story by Michael Maltese, the short was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 25, 1953. It was notable as the only Warner Bros. cartoon short produced in 3-D prior to 2010's Coyote Falls. It premiered with the Warner Bros. 3-D feature The Moonlighter and the 3-D Lippert short, Bandit Island. "Starts Tomorrow, both Paramounts (Downtown and Hollywood), The Moonlighter, Bandit Island and Lumber Jack-Rabbit." Movie section, LA Herald and Express. 24 September, 1953. Plot As the story opens a narrator recalls the character Paul Bunyan and his exploits and stats that many people still question the giant's existence. Then he challenges to ask "a certain rabbit" whether he is real. Just then Bugs Bunny come walking by touting a hobo pack and singing "Blue Tail Fly". He then comments on the unusual looking trees he passes, oblivious to the fact that they are abnormally large asparagus and that he has entered a rather large vegetable garden. He then finds an oversized carrot and lies next to it for a nap under the pretense that it is a boulder. But he quickly rises up and points out that he smells carrots. Turning his attention to the so-called boulder he's propped against, and scratches some of the contents onto his finger and tastes. Suddenly he ecstatically comes to the conclusion that he has discovered a "carrot mine" and starts to frantically dig through the carrot. On the other end of the garden Paul Bunyan leaves his log cabin for work with his dog Smidgen (a gag in itself as the word is a measurement for a small amount.) following behind. Paul instructs the dog to watch over the garden and literally leaves over the mountains. Back in the garden, Bugs has managed to tunnel through several carrots and lay down tracks for the mining cart he is using to dump the excess carrot chunks over a cliff. When suddenly Smidgen appears, drawn to the sound of Bugs' singing. Annoyed by the tiny intruder, he pulls up the carrot that Bugs is in with his teeth. Bugs comes out, stops at the sight of what he assumes is a large billboard (Smidgen's dog license), and wonders where it came. Suddenly he realizes that he is suspended high in the air, and frantically climbs up the carrot onto the edge of Smidgen's nose. Bugs then sees the large bloodshot eyes staring at him and realizes what he's up against. However, he becomes enraged stating to the audience. "I'll be scared later, right now I'm too mad". He climbs up, approaches Smidgen's eye, and balls his fists to fight. Smidgen takes his fingers to flick Bugs off his bridge, but Bugs jumps up causing Smidgen to flick his own eye. Bugs then walks through the dog's head, out the left ear to the ground below, and runs down the garden with Smidgen not far behind. Bugs then happens upon a wormhole and dives in forcing its previous occupant, a worm, out. Smidgen sticks his nose over the hole and starts to sniff, unbeknownst that Bugs has a feather, which he uses to tickle Smidgen's nose, causing Smidgen to give a hearty sneeze that rockets Bugs into Paul's cabin and inside a moose call horn. Smidgen runs in the cabin, grabs the horn and gives several blows which alert a nearby moose. The moose happily runs after what it believes is another moose, only to find in waiting an enormous dog. Thus, the moose flees yelping like a dog. Smidgen then gives the horn another blow sending Bugs flying into the barrel of a revolver. Smidgen then fires it sending the bullet Bugs is riding on into a nearby apple in a fruit basket. Smidgen grabs the apple and takes a large bite leaving Bugs' backside exposing. Smidgen then eats the entire apple, grabs a toothpick to pick his teeth, and walks away assured that Bugs is taken care of. But when he picks his teeth, Bugs comes out unharmed on the top of the toothpick. Bugs then hops up grabbing Smidgen's ear and wraps it around Smidgen's head covering his eyes. Then Bugs dives into the hair on the back of Smidgen's neck. From there, Bugs proceeds to scratch the surface of Smidgen's skin. This causes Smidgen to shiver, coo, and moan in pleasure. With the dog distracted, Bugs exits via Smidgen's leg and leaves the cabin. Smidgen chases after Bugs, only now he wants him to continue scratching. Bugs, feeling he's safe, stops to catch his breath, not knowing Smidgen is right behind. Before he knows it, Bugs is licked by the dog's enormous tongue which lift him off the ground each time. Bugs tries to run away, but stops at the sight of something. Quickly he sees the world's largest pine tree and calls Smidgen's attention to it, and the dog runs off to it. 3-Dimensional Gimmick The only obvious concession that Lumber Jack-Rabbit made to the 3-D format was at the very beginning of the cartoon, where the zooming "WB" shield zooms much farther than usual and crashes into the screen before returning back to its usual position. This is complemented by a slight variation on the "Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" theme, where in the opening twanging sound is more exaggerated, reverberant, and breath-taking. While this effect can be attributed only to this one short, the shield overshooting its mark has become a common motif in tributes and reboots to the Looney Tunes franchise, including the opening sequences to the 2011 sitcom The Looney Tunes Show, the 2010s Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote shorts, and the 2003 Looney Tunes shorts. The "That's All Folks!" closing sequence was also noticely modified, as the text simply faded in instead of being written out. Gallery Trivia References External links *Lumber Jack-Rabbit at SuperCartoons.net * Lumber Jack-Rabbit at B99.TV * Category:Bugs Bunny shorts Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:Looney Tunes Category:1953 shorts Category:Animated shorts Category:3D films Category:1953 films Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons Category:Bugs Bunny Category:Shorts Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:1953 Category:1950s Category:1950s shorts Category:Directed by Chuck Jones